


No Future But What We Make

by Ruuger



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:23:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6895342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruuger/pseuds/Ruuger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The words slipped out almost before she'd even thought of them. "If I still had my powers, I could have done something."</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Future But What We Make

**Author's Note:**

> Cheerfully ignores the 'Rogue cut' version of the movie, because I haven't seen it yet.
> 
> Thanks to silveradept for the beta.

_She didn't dare to look into Bobby's eyes, afraid that what she'd see in them would be disappointment, and instead just slipped her ungloved hand into his. His skin felt cool and dry against hers, both rough and smooth at the same time._

_She'd almost forgotten what it felt like, to touch another person with nothing between them, but she had imagined this moment in her mind so many times, just like she used to imagine what kissing someone would feel like when she was a little girl._

"Anything?"

Kitty shook her head. "It's no use. We're too deep. Even if I could phase us through the walls, I have no idea what's on the other side, if anything. I think we'll have a better chance if I try sending you back."

Rogue knew that Kitty was right, but she also knew that either way their chances were minimal. She'd seen Kitty and the others only seconds before the Sentinels had caught up with them, which would hardly give them an advantage in a fight against the machines. There was nothing she could do to warn them, no matter how many days back Kitty sent her. 

She pressed her palm against the concrete wall in imitation of Kitty. The wall felt almost alive under her palm. Warm, and with a slight vibration caused by whatever it was that the sentinels were doing on the other side. 

The words slipped out almost before she'd even thought of them. "If I still had my powers, I could have done something."

"But you don't have you your powers anymore."

She knew that Kitty hadn't meant for it to sound like an accusation, but she could nevertheless hear in her voice the same disappointment she'd seen in Bobby's eyes. The same disappointment she herself had lived with since that day.

"No."

She glanced over her shoulder to see Kitty give her an apologetic smile.

"Then again, I guess it probably would be better now, not being a mutant."

"No, not really." Rogue turned back to the wall, pressing her palms harder against it, the rough concrete biting into her skin. "The Sentinels came after me, because even after the cure I'm still not one of them. I'm still a freak, even without my powers." She pulled her hand away, studying the small scratch marks on her skin for a moment before continuing. "Besides, why should we be the ones who have to change?"

Not having her powers was what she had wanted, but she understood now that she'd only wanted it because it had been what other people had wanted her to want.

She turned to Kitty again, her fingers curling into fists, still feeling the phantom of the wall against her palm. "Could you do it? Could you change it so that I didn't take the cure?"

Kitty stared at her. "I- I don't know. I've only tried sending people back a few days, a couple of weeks at the most. I'm not sure what would happen if I tried to send you back that far. It could rip your mind to pieces."

There was deep boom, like an explosion, and for a few seconds the whole room shook violently. The vibration of the walls was growing stronger, and neither Kitty nor Rogue needed to say out loud that it meant that the sentinels were getting closer. 

"Do it," Rogue said and then, when she saw Kitty hesitate, added: "Please."

Kitty nodded, and sat down on the floor. She gestured at Rogue. "Lay down, and put your head in my lap."

Rogue felt sure of herself in a way she had not felt when she'd made the choice the last time. She wouldn't need to do anything to change the past. All she needed was this one chance, one little pebble to change the flow of the events, because she now knew that given the chance, she would decide differently. It didn't matter if changing the past killed her, because the person she was now was already dead. But given another chance, she could be someone else, someone who could change the future and survive. 

When Rogue laid down, Kitty pressed her fingers on her temple. The room was now shaking continuously, the roar of the sentinels coming closer by the seconds.

"I'm sorry," Kitty said. "This will hurt."

Rogue ignored her voice, focusing on the touch of her fingertips on her skin, savouring it, because she knew that it was the last touch of skin she would ever feel. A part of her wanted to scream that it wasn't fair, but another part of her knew that life rarely was.

"Close your eyes," Kitty said, and then there was nothing but the pain that tore her to shreds, and Kitty's screams as the Sentinels broke through the walls.

* * *

_"Hey? Miss? You okay?"_

_Rogue opened her eyes to see a worried-looking man standing above her. She was lying on the ground with something soft underneath her head - a folded coat, she realised when she turned her head. The man reached down to help her up, but she reflexively flinched to avoid his touch. He gave her an odd look and took a step back, as if afraid that she might suddenly bite him._

_"What happened?" she asked, carefully sitting up. She was feeling lightheaded, every little movement sending a wave of nausea though her._

_The man glanced over his shoulder, and Rogue realised that the crowd of people around them were all standing in line. Waiting for the cure, she remembered. She idly wondered if the man was one of them, and if he was, why he wanted to be cured._

_"You fainted, I guess," he said. "Just went down, just like that. Have you been waiting for long?"_

__Since I became like this, _she wanted to say, but didn't. There were white spots crowding on the edges of her vision, and she closed her eyes, trying to stave off the nausea. Everything felt unreal, wrong somehow._

_The man patted her on the shoulder, but this time she managed not to flinch. "I'll go and ask if you could get you to the head of the line, or at least let you wait somewhere where you can sit down."_

_From the corner of her eye, Rogue could see a woman in a white coat approach them. Suddenly she was struck with the reality of what she was going to do. She had been so focused on the idea of normality that she'd never stopped to consider what the price might be._

_"No thanks, I'm fine," she said, struggling to her feet. The man tried to help her, but she shrugged him off, and started to walk away from the line._

_"Where are you going? Don't you want to be cured?" the man shouted after her._

_"I'm fine," she repeated, and meant it._


End file.
